The Eye of the Storm
by Book2romantic
Summary: Or, Finding Love Down a Rabbit Hole. Running from everything you knew, how surprised can you be by something unexpected? All human. ExB, EmxR, AxJ. Written collaboratively with multiple authors.
1. Reservations

Something tickling my face. Just lightly running down it. A light tap then it trails down towards my pillow. Oh, Crap! Its raining again!

"Damn shitty weather," I muttered, opening my eyes to the leaves that were blotting out most of the sky from my view. Sleeping on a leather duffel bag actually was pretty comfortable, if you didn't have anything too hard in it. The problem was this mulch. I brushed off as much of the reddish brown chunks of wood as I could, sighing while I sat up. Clouds covered the sky so I couldn't really try to gauge what time it was by the sun. Another abbreviated night of sleep. At least it was something different waking me up this time.

_"Where are you gonna go man? I ain't gonna make you stay but what else do you got?"_

_"I don't know. I just can't do this anymore, man. I just can't do this."_

I'd walked out. On my brother, on the only family I had ever known since my mother's death eight years ago. I'd taken my entire life's savings, which was only about thirty five hundred dollars, some of my clothes, and just left. I loved him, loved all of them, but that gang was going to kill us and what was it all for? Some stupid honor? Some stupid money? Who even cared about that shit? Wasn't there more to life?

I'd slept at the bus depot that first day, after buying the cheapest ticket to somewhere I'd never heard of. The gray chairs that were in rows twelve long were actually less comfortable than the floor. If you stretched across them, the edges dug into you, and they didn't have arms or a big enough back to let you try to fall asleep sitting up. It'd been three days since I left, and I hadn't spent any money except for that bus ticket. Could seventeen year olds rent rooms? I'd slept outside last night, saving money. Walked out with some chicken and bread two days ago for food. That food was gone now. And now it was raining on me. Not as bad under this oak tree as it was out in the open, but enough to make it hard to sleep. I pulled out one of my blacks and lit it up. Of course I brought them and my lighter. They never leave my side. My shaking hands settle down a little as I take a long drag.

It had been about two weeks since I really slept. Nothing made the nightmares go away. I looked at the shining surface of the zippo. One word etched into it. Family. My brother had given it to me on my last birthday. And now I was gone. Not him leaving me, like that punk ass father of ours ran out on us. Not some act of god, taking him away. No, this time I made the choice. I stuffed the lighter back into my pocket.

My stomach growled, breaking my train of thought, and I decided that I needed to get some food. I surveyed the street, trying to find a good spot to eat through the a thick curtain of water. I finally settled on a what looked like a diner up the street about half a block. It was tough to tell through the rain. I plotted out the least water logged route towards my goal as I finished up my cigarette, making sure to let this one last. I'd have to ration these last three packs until I could find a new way to get some.

Finally, after waiting for a car to past, I shouldered my bag and began my dash across the street. I leaped over the puddle that had accumulated at the curb, and ran to the other side of the street. Another leap onto the sidewalk, then duck under the roof of the building. Then I just had to run between the buildings till I got to the diner. Not the shortest route, but I was only mostly drenched when I finally sprawled against the door to the restaurant. Of course its a pull door, as I crash into it full speed coming out of the rain. Steak 'n Shake, says the sign. A lone old man looks at me funny from inside as I try to pull it open and still don't manage to get in.

"We're closed!" he shouts.

"What? I thought these places were open twenty four hours a day."

"Not when there's a hurricane on. Whole area's bein' evacuated."

Well shit. That explained the rain.

"Can I use a phone then? I need to call a cab."

He looked at me suspiciously. "I'll call one for ya."

"Ok. Thanks. I'll just wait out here." I slid down the wall as he went behind the counter to get a phone, looking down at myself. I can see why he wouldn't want to let me in. Six foot two, dirty blond hair in my eyes. A grimy t shirt and jeans that had seen better days. I looked like I lived on the street. Which, admittedly, was pretty accurate for the past couple of days. Living on the street. Running from a hurricane. What the hell was I doing? I'd never lived out on my own like this.

_"You ever change your mind, Jasper, we're always here. Family."_

_"Family. I know, Rob. I just need to get out of here. I can't take this anymore. It isn't right."_

_"We do what we have to."_

_"I can't."_

I couldn't just go back to Rob. Not that they wouldn't take me. Would they even still be alive and out of prison? But even if they were, I just couldn't. Pride and fate and hope and God knows what else made me want something different. I prayed that it was something more, something better than I deserved, that I was heading towards.

"Taxi said they'd be here in about ten minutes. What are you doing out in this kinda whether?"

That's the question, isn't it? I sighed. "I don't know. I just couldn't take where I was."

"Hmmm. I know the feeling. Where you going to ride this storm out?"

"I don't really have any place to go." Easy enough to be honest about that. Anyone could guess it just by looking at me.

"Well, the nearest shelter that's got any space left, from what I hear, is all the way in Morehead City."

"How far's that?"

"'Bout an hour car ride. Maybe more in this weather."

"Are you sure there's nothing I could get to eat?" I asked, feeling a pang in my stomach.

"Nope. Everything's gone or locked up so no one can get at it."

"Ok. Thanks for your help." With a nod, the old man disappeared back into the restaurant. I sat there, starring out into the rain. What did I need to do? I needed to find food, shelter, and employment. Food was the most immediate concern. But I'd need to balance that with safety and shelter from this weather. So I would probably wait until I got to Morehead City to eat. Hopefully there would be something open there. Then I would head to a shelter for now, before looking for a place to rent. I could manage a down payment and a deposit, plus I could keep my eyes open for any jobs that might be nearby while I looked for a place. I'd need to look into transportation too. It felt good to be thinking of a plan, rather than just laying around. The previous plan of get away was too vague, and I was only really coming up with details right now. I started to reach for another cigarette, but stopped myself. I needed those to last for a while. Couldn't just smoke a pack a day like usual.

A horn, barely audible through the rain, brought my head up. I could see a car idling on the curb. This must be my ride. I stood up with my bag, turning to wave at the old man from the Steak 'n Shake, but he was no where in sight. Must have left while I was waiting. I dashed to the cab, skidding in a spray of water. I wrenched the door open, then pivoted around it to jump into the dry vehicle.

"Can you get me to Morehead City?"

"Sure. Five hundred bucks."

Now, I don't know cab fares, but bull shit. "Are you out of your mind?" I asked the squat greasy fellow in the front seat.

"Five hundred, up front. No one else would ever come out in this weather."

"I don't even know where Morehead City is. How do I know you won't take my money and leave me in the middle of nowhere?"

He, laughed, and somehow that was squat and greasy too. I'd never heard a laugh that matched up with the person better. "I guess you'll just have to trust me then."

Fat chance of that. I tossed five twentys into the front. "Here's a hundred. I'll give you the other four hundred when I actually get somewhere I wanna be." He seemed to consider it, before pocketing the money and starting the cab. I hoped I'd be able to read the signs through the rain, because I was out of this cab as soon as it hit Morehead City. A hundred dollars was more than I could afford already.

"So where do you need to go?"

"Take me to somewhere I can rent a room till this storm's blown over," since I don't want you knowing where I'm actually headed.

"Ok. It'll be a while though." Great, I'd have to stay awake the whole ride. Couldn't afford to sleep through the jump off point.

We sat quietly for a while, until I noticed the rain starting to lessen. "Are we passed where this hurricane is?"

The driver laughed again, "You were only in one of the bands that a hurricane throws off. The real storm isn't coming ashore for a few hours. Another band'll come through in a minute and I won't be able to see again."

Comforting. At least I could make out the signs at the side of the road now. After another period of quiet, I finally saw a sign that said we were in Morehead City. Oh joy. I'd need him to slow down a bit, hopefully I'd find a grassy spot. Or if he just came to a stop light or sign, I could do it without any chance of injury, though I'd have to run like hell. Actually, I'd have to run like hell either way. But then there was no more time for consideration, as he put on his blinker in front of the grassy lawn of a restaurant. I threw open the door, tossed out my bag, then followed it, rolling as best as I could when I hit the ground. My left shoulder sent sharp pangs shooting through me in protest of my exit strategy, as I grabbed my bag and tore off down the street the cab had just turned off of. I heard the taxi coming to a stop, as I reached the edge of the building. At the angry shouts, I looked back, but he hadn't rounded the corner yet, so despite the smell of recently rained on partially decayed food, I immediately cut to the alley between the two buildings right by me. Another alley turnoff soon presented itself, and I took that one too, finally sitting down to rest by a dumpster in the back of a business.

I patted my pockets, finding everything still in place. Bag, check. Various bruises and a larger, though not debilitating injury to the shoulder. One hundred bucks lighter. But I was here, now I just had to find food and get to a shelter. After the storm I could look for a more permanent residence, then, assuming that there was no improvement, get my shoulder looked at. Next would be a job. So, up, and off to find food. I wandered out of the alley, still heading away from the taxi that I had just stiffed. I passed a dentist's office, and something that had one of those names that made it sound like it could have been anything. Probably a temp agency. I turned left onto what the signs informed me was Arendell Drive. Should I double back towards the restaurant by where I left the cab? He probably wasn't there anymore. I would honestly take just about any food at this point.

Across the street I saw what almost looked like a pair of yellowish houses. One of them had a large green circle on it that read "Bistro by the Sea." I don't know what the hell a bistro is, but I know they have food, and this one still had several cars in the lot. I made my way across the street, no traffic causing a delay this time.

As I pulled open one of the wooden doors at the entrance, it occurred to me that this place was a probably a little pricey. Oh, well, looking at the menu wouldn't hurt, and I could always ask for directions if it was too much. I stepped into a room with slightly dimmer lights than I prefer, though it helped the candles stand out. The walls were a deep reddish color, and I saw a large bar in the back. A large piano bar. Yeah, this place was gonna be way outta my league.

"Hello, how many for your party?" asked a woman whose name tag read Libby.

"Um... actually.."

"You've kept me waiting," sang out a voice from the back.

**------------------------------**

**So, a while back I had this crazy idea that a bunch of authors should get together and write the same story from multiple perspectives. Five other people promptly said it sounded like fun, so we threw a first chapter together from each person's point of view, then..... life caught up with me. School, family, relationship drama, finances, even my laptop broke. So I never sent the secret coded message to start posting to the other authors, who are Sierra Echo Bravo, Shaps, luvvampluvdog, gatorzgurl07, and Madame Meg. Hopefully everyone got the signal, now that it was finally sent. You can find other perspectives to this story on their accounts if everything went as planned, though all the versions should stand on their own. Hope this works.**

**Happy Halloween.**

**Update (December 22) We're up and running! The new cast for our tale is**

**Eevy Angel writing Rosalie.**

**Sierra Echo Bravo writing Emmett.**

**Luvvampluvdog writing Edward.**

**gatorzgurl07 writing Bella.**

**book2romantic writing Jasper**

**Shaps writing Alice**

**Happy Holidays!  
**


	2. Blue

I could feel the hostess's mood change as soon as she heard that voice from across the room. As she led me to the table I saw the person who had apparently reserved a table for me.

Short. That was honestly the first thing anyone would think when they saw her. Almost as if she were a miniature of a normal person, because, honestly, everything seemed well proportioned. They'd probably notice the short black hair from how it contrasted with her pale skin.

And God help anyone who got to the eyes. As soon as she looked up, I decided that this trip had been a good idea. The clearest, bluest eyes I had ever seen. Like how I always imagined the water looks in the Arctic Circle. I felt self conscious for a second, since I was sure that my eyes were blood shot. In fact, I would have liked to be dressed better to for meeting this woman.

"Would y'all like something to drink?" asked Libby.

Stupidly, I realized that she was talking to me.

"Coke," I said.

"Sit," said the girl, gesturing as towards the seat across from her as Libby went to get the drink. I've been off balance since I walked in, one step behind this whole time. But I don't see any reason not to sit. Standing was just making me look like a fool. Again.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," I said quietly, dipping my head in a small bow towards my beautiful, and seemingly benevolent, host. A small smile seemed to dance across her face. Damn, good smile too. "I didn't know that anyone would be waiting for me though. And I'm sorry again, but do we know each other from somewhere?" I put on my best cautious grin, as if I thought I could have forgotten that face. There was no way I could ever forget you.

I could tell she was nervous, but her excitement seemed to run right over anything. I was surprised that she even managed to stay in her chair.

"Well, I guess it's understandable that you don't remember me, since you've never even seen me before. But I'm Alice." She flashed a longer smile this time. Still just as good.

"Good," I said, "I hate it when I meet someone again and I had forgotten them. I always feel like such an… a jerk." Should I watch my language? Better safe than sorry.

"No, you seem like a perfect gentleman," she said in that intoxicating, perfect voice. At least I give off a good appearance when I need to. "I've definitely got my contacts – I can usually find people easily. When they want to be found, of course."

"Oh?" I said, intrigued. "How's that?"

"You just happened to turn up on the radar in my… um, actually, you just happened to turn up."

"I don't understand what you mean." I paused. "Honestly, I've been trying to lay low. And I haven't been missing long enough for the cops to get involved."

"I had some pretty weird ways of figuring out that we'd meet. I…" she trailed off. She stared down at the table blankly for a few seconds, not moving.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"You won't believe me," she said, suddenly timid. "You'll… you'll laugh and … and…" She seemed very deflated.

"No I won't."

She put her head in her hands, and looked up at me from between her fingers. I looked back at her intently. She was so cute in that pose.

"Iceethefutre," she squeaked quickly.

"What?" I said, failing to quite squelch a chuckle.

"See! I knew you'd laugh!" she shot back. She sounded angry, but I was too wrapped up in her know flashing eyes to care.

"What? No. No, I just didn't hear you. You squeaked and I couldn't tell what you said."

"I. Don't. Squeak." She said coldly.

"My mistake," I said. "I just must not have heard you." I turned my best puppy dog eyes on her. "Could you please tell me again?"

Her scowl seemed to crack slightly. "Ok," she finally said in one sigh.

"My name is Mary Alice Brandon. I live in Pine Grove – a housing estate up north. I have a mother and a father who live there too, no siblings, and ever since I was a kid I've been able to see the future."

Ok. She was right about one thing at least. I didn't believe her. Now, maybe she wasn't crazy. I mean, I'd slept only about ten hours in the past three days so I was hardly one to judge crazy. But it wasn't a strong endorsement of one's sanity if you said you could see the future. We were both somewhat distracted by Libby returning to deliver my soda.

"Would you like to order now?" she asked. She frowned, looking between me and Alice.

"Uh, no, I need to look at the menu still," I said.

"Well, call out if you need anything, and I'll stop back by in a minute." She scurried back towards the kitchen, casting a wary look back over her shoulder. I ignored her and kept looking at Alice.

"How does that work?" I finally asked. I hoped she didn't see how skeptical I was of all of this, but I could feel my heart sinking right along with hers. She looked so disappointed that I didn't believe her. Way to go Jasper. Ruin the angel's day.

"Never mind," she said, looking away. She brought a hand up to her eyes, leaving the other where it had fallen on the table.

"Hey," I said, taking her other hand. I wasn't sure if that was a mistake or not, because all my exhaustion that I'd kept at bay with nervous energy and paranoia smashed into me. I heard a sharp intake of breathe from across the table. "Please. I want to hear about it. About you."

"We should order," she said. She was biting her lip slightly.

"Will you tell me after that?" I asked. Where had that note of desperation come from? I had to focus on her more to stay awake.

She smiled back at me again, almost making up for her letting go of my hand to pick up a menu. "I guess so."

I blinked looking at the menu. The nerves and exhaustion had not returned to their proper place. I was still tired, but my nerves weren't quite the usual around her. It felt safer. It was almost like the world was less important. Like everything I'd done was not as important.

But good lord was this place expensive! At least I managed to have a dinner partner classy enough to justify this type of restaurant. Libby drifted back over at Alice's smile, pad and pen at the ready.

"So what would you like?" Alice looked at me, but I just inclined my head towards her.

"I'll have the 'Chilled Fresh Basil, Tomatoes, Bufala Mozzarella' dish as my appetizer please. Then, for the main course…" she glanced down at her menu again, though her eyes jumped up to mine for a moment. Or maybe I was delirious. "And the 'Chargrilled Fresh Ground Sirloin' as my main, thank you. Oh, and add the 'Marsala Wine Mushroom Sauce' to the sirloin, please."

Libby made some marks on her organiser. "Starch or vegetable with that?"

"Vegetable, thank you."

"And what would you like sir?"

"Could I have the Caesar salad to start with and the 'Chargrilled London Broil' for mains." Might as well make the most of my frivolous waste of money, I thought with a grin. The hostess wrote that down and left us alone at our table again.

Alice fidgeted nervously. "Does this mean I have to talk now?"

Everything about her was enchanting. Even the fidgeting. "What? No, not if you don't want to."

"Good. I just, I don't know, I'd rather talk about some thing else."

I yawned, trying at the last minute to cover my mouth with my hand. She giggled slightly at my late reaction. She seemed more cheerful, even if not quite as confident as she had been at the beginning of our … meal? Meeting? Whatever this was.

"I need to go wash my hands, so you don't talk about anything important yet," I said as I rose from the table. My shoulder screeched at when I accidentally used it to lift myself up out of my seat. I wove my way through tables and chairs made from some darkly stained wood over to the bathroom. I passed a bar room with a piano on the way. A freakin' piano! Man was I out of my usual haunts. Eventually I got to the door to the restroom and pushed through.

I washed my hands, then took a minute to splash water on my face. Just to check if this was all a dream. I mean, I was exhausted enough. Maybe I was still in the cab on the way here.

A beautiful girl meets me at a restaurant I had never heard of. She tells me she can see the future. Maybe she can. She knew I'd be here, she claims. I can't claim that. Does it matter though? What are her objectives? What's she going for? I don't see any ways she gains from this. And I can see lots of ways I do. Like that smile, or those damn addictive eyes.

I dried my hands and face, and walked back out to the table. Alice was not looking quite as cheerful as when I left.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Nothing," she answered quickly. Even tired and distracted, I knew she answered much to quickly. I started to sit down and hit my bag. On the left side of my chair. I had dropped it straight off my right shoulder onto the ground.

I looked up at Alice. "Find anything interesting?" I asked, dreading the answers I could see all over her face.

"I-in your bag. W-was… is that …"

"A gun?" I snarled back. She nodded. "Yes. Yes it is."

"Why?" she asked. I could see the fear in her eyes. Someone who knew a lot about me for no reason, what else might she know? She knew I was breaking the law now, at the very least. Now my anger snarled up to drive back any nervousness or exhaustion I might have had

"I don't think I need explain my self to you," I spat. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing in this place anyhow." I stood up quickly, tossing a fifty onto the table form the roll of bills in my pocket.

"Sorry you waited for nothing," I said as I grabbed my bag and turned to the exit.

**Author's note:**

**So, new cast, in case you didn't hear.**

**Eevy Angel writing Rosalie**

**Luvvampluvdog writing Edward**

**Sierra Echo Bravo writing Emmett**

**Shaps writing Alice**

**CarribbeanLady writing Bella  
**

**Oh, and me, writing Jasper. Sorry it took so long to find quality replacements for the two that we lost, but we ended up with two great writers. I certainly think they're better than me.**

**Also, I'll be stealing a tradition from Shaps, and start posing questions for you to answer in any reviews. How do you tell that you love someone? I mean, we say it to family, significant others, maybe even friends, but what do we mean?  
**


	3. Lying

I was through the door before Alice had even moved away from the table. It was only drizzling a little outside. I started walking as quick as I could. In fact, I jogged across the street, just to get a little more distance between me and her, anything to help me think a little more clearly. Something about her just hit me like a drug. I really needed a smoke, but I didn't want to waste one if it started pouring on me. I noticed, ironically, that there was a Taco Bell around the corner from the over priced piece of crap I was just in. Way more in my price rang.

I heard the sound of short, quick steps rapidly approaching me from behind. I kept up a quick, steady, pace, but she was practically running to catch up with me. I decided I wasn't going to wait for her to get the first word in. I was going to make sure and have the initiative this time.

"Look, just get the hell away from me," I said, rounding on her. Rain had plastered her hair to her head, and made it impossible to tell if the water running down her face was tears.

"It isn't supposed to be like this," she said quietly. "I... I'm sorry I looked through your things."

"Leave me alone, ok? I'm not the kind of person you want to get involved with." I turned and started walking away again.

"Jasper please!" she said, catching up to me again. "Where will you go? I can help you." I felt a hand grab my shoulder. This time the contact and my anger brought back reflexes I was trying to get away from. I spun around, grabbing her arm and pinning it behind her back. I shoved her towards the window of some shop that I had been walking by.

She turned around to find a drawn gun pointed at her. "Do I look like I need your help?" I demanded. I could feel her fear, and the familiar guilt and high I got from this power. Her mouth was open in a perfect o, her beautiful blue eyes so wide and frightened. Her eyes closed and she shuddered as I pressed the barrel to her forehead.

I leaned in to whisper, so close that my lips brushed her ear. "Run home, little girl. Don't look for me. Don't follow me. I am not interested in your help."

She slid down the wall when I pulled the gun back and put it into my bag. This time I didn't hear any footsteps following.

I was doing the right thing, wasn't I? I didn't need to stick around with someone who would snoop too much into my past. No good would come of that for me. And a girl like her didn't need to get her life ruined by mixing up with a guy like me. Right? God, couldn't this have waited until after the food? I was still hungry, and I needed to find this storm shelter.

I managed to find a convenience store that was still open. I was glad that the owner of Kwik Stop was still looking to make a buck even though doom in the form of a giant storm was supposed to be arriving. I wandered through the shelves looking for something that would keep, didn't need much preparation, and that was cheap. Choices were slim. I'd want a loaf of bread, certainly, but other than that, it wasn't really worth the money for chips and candy. I almost exclaimed with joy when I stumbled on a dozen cans of vienna sausages. I'd loved these things when I was a little kid, and they were a better deal than a bag of chips. I grabbed a couple of candy bars and a two liter of cherry coke as my luxury items, though I supposed that I could fill the bottle with water after I drank it. As an after thought I pulled some ritz crackers off the shelf too as I headed up to the cash register to pay.

The guy behind the counter looked like he'd had a decade similar to the past couple of days I'd been having, only with less physical activity. He rang up my purchases, giving me a weary eye the whole time as if he looked like he was a whole lot better than me.

"Do you know where the storm shelter is around here?" I asked.

"Sure," he rasped out as I paid, "It's just up this road about five blocks. The big old church."

"Thanks," I said as I took my change, counting to make sure the greasy old fool didn't try to short me. I headed out the the automatic glass doors that looked like they hadn't been cleaned since before I was born.

My shoulder twinged again as I dropped my bag to put my purchase in it. The gun was sitting right there on the top, as if accusing me. You left her there, crying and scared, in the rain. You saw her, how small and fragile she looked. Great job, it taunted. She'll definitely be fine on her own, attempting to be kind to strangers and people like you! I wanted to tell it to shut the hell up, but doubted an inanimate object would hear me. It's not like it had ears or something. God I was nearly as crazy as Alice. Visions, especially visions telling you to find a guy like me, were a definite sign of insanity. I shook my head again as a vision of those beautiful icy blues came into my mind. It was better for both of us if we never crossed paths again. Definitely better. Definitely. My shoulder protested again as I reslung my bag and started off down the street.

I hope she's ok. God, it was stupid to just leave her there. I mean, me sticking around wasn't a good idea, but threatening her, hurting her like that? That was stupid. I just over reacted. Maybe I was just too tired. I can't even apologize either, since I would never see her again. I'm sure I at least managed that much. To frighten away my good samaritan, my personal angel. But she'd go back home, hopefully some gated community, where she'd be safe from storms and creeps like me.

As I walked, I noticed that the street seemed less deserted as I went. Not that it was crawling with people. There still wasn't anyone around that I saw, but there were cars parked up and down both sides of the street. Finally I noticed a bell tower over the top of the shop I was in front of. I picked up the pace as I realized I was closer to my destination. As I got to the end of this block I was confronted with a huge brick church. The windows were outfitted with huge plywood covers, which was good, because judging by the size of the plywood, that much glass would mess up everyone trying to take shelter there.

The sound of rain behind me got me to stop gawking. Glancing behind me, a solid wall of rain seemed to be advancing toward me, and thunder crashed to go ahead and give me even more motivation to get inside. I dashed up some stairs to the huge doors that looked like the main entrance of the church, finding them, fortunately, to be unlocked. I jumped in just before the curtain of rain hit the steps behind me.

I walked into a long room. It was seperated off from whatever the main section of the church is called, where they hold the actual services in the church. Off to the right there was a large woman in a purple shirt behind a desk. A short line of rain splattered people were in front of her, receiving a pen and paperwork. That made sense. Some identifying information before they let you stay, just in case anyone turned out to be a wanted criminal. Or if some medical emergency or something happened. I joined in the line.

Soon I had made it to the front of the line. "Just fill out this form as best as you can," the woman said, giving me a weary smile as she handed me a pen and a form. I gave her a nod as I moved to the side of the oversized desk. I glanced down at the sheet she had handed me.

_Name?_  
_DOB?_  
_Address?_  
_Phone Number"_  
_SSN?_

I scribbled down answers to all of them, except for my social security number. I couldn't remember that. I mean, honestly, there's got to be a lot of people who don't know their social security number off the top of their head. I made my way back to the purple wearing woman, handing her back her pen and the paper.

"Thank you," she said, looking down at the sheet. "You'll be rooming in 220, just down the hall, Mr. Saunders. Due to space limitation, you'll be sharing a room with a Mr. Masen." I wearily nodded in acknowledgement.

I made my way down the hall she had indicated. The numbers started at 225 and went down. 222. 221. 220. I paused outside the door. Was there some sort of protocol for rooms that you were sharing with a complete stranger for the night. _Leave the tip on the nightstand? _I thought. What the hell. It's my room too. I opened the door and walked in to what was temporarily home.

It had two blue cots set up on either side of the room. Each had a pillow. One had a white blanket. The other, the one with some guy rising from it, had a blue one. He had a clear face, with messy auburn hair. I bet he thought he was quite the ladies man. Not that I really gave a shit. He had a flash of disgust as I walked in, which might have bothered me more if I'd bothered to hide the complete disdain I felt. He looked like he'd been living on his family's dole his whole life, probably never even struggled in school.

"I take it you're stranded here for the evening also," he said, extending his hand as he flashed me a winning smile that at the moment was much more likely to get him some dental work than it was a friend.

"Yeah," I said, turning away from him to sling my bag to the foot of the other cot. He hadn't kept his hand out like an idiot. Now he was standing there scrutinizing me as I went through my bag, pulling out a change of clean clothes, a towel, and my toiletries kit.

"I'm Edward," he said. "Edward Masen."

"My name's Matt," I said, not looking up from my bag as I checked that my soap, toothbrush, toothpaste,and shampoo were where they should be. "And I don't really give a shit." I grabbed the small pile I had made on my bed, and headed back out of the room to look for some place with a shower in this building. It was big enough that there had to be one somewhere. Edward could have fun doing whatever the hell he had been doing in there before I wandered in.

Honestly, my mind was still on Alice. I hoped she had made it out ok. The roads must be getting pretty bad, and she might not have been in the best condition when I left her. If she waited, and was trying to drive in this. I just ... I hope she was ok. That she made it out of this. I passed some big curly haired guy as I looked around. This hallway rounded a corner and seemed to just keep going. A girl with strawberry blond hair came out of one of the rooms. She turned towards me, heading down the hall in my direction.

"Do you know if there are showers anywhere here?" I asked when she got close. She looked up at me with frightened brilliantly blue eye. No. I blinked. She had hazel eyes.

"There's actually bathrooms at the end of this hall if you just keep going," she said.

"Thanks," I said, brushing past her.

Eventually, at the very end of the hall, near a door marked exit, I found doors that weren't just marked with numbers like all the others. The first one was the women's restroom, so I kept walking. So that would make the next door...

"Help! We need some help in here!" screamed a voice out of the women's bathroom. If I needed help, I sure would want someone to come into the bathroom I was in, regardless of what any sign on the door might have said, so I ended up heading into the first door after all. I found a short (not as short as _she _was) brown haired girl trying to stop a steady stream of blood another girl's wrist with her bare hands. Her eyes were staring out at us, but they didn't look like they had any idea we were there. She had a bruise on her cheek that she'd tried to hide under some make up.

"Go get help!" I said, shoving the other girl out of the way. I grabbed my towel, pressing it against what was definitely a deliberate slice. There was a matching bruise to go with the one on her face right where she'd cut herself. She started to struggle, dislodging my towel, knocking it away with her other hand. I grabbed her arm, holding both of her arms to the ground, now with all my weight on them to try to staunch the flow of blood _and _hold her down.

"No," she muttered. "No no no no Royce no!" Her struggles we're getting weaker, which I was taking as a bad sign. I knew the symptom. Maybe the flashback had passed, but maybe she just had lost so much blood that she couldn't fight back anymore.

"In here!" I heard the voice of the brown haired girl I'd sent for help. A blond haired man rushed in with some sort of bag. He moved like he knew what he was doing, pulling al sorts of medical equipement out of the bag.

"What's happened?" he asked me.

"She's lost a lot of blood from a deep cut on her wrist." A brown haired women, about the same age as our medic, came in.

"Come help me dear," said the man, after looking up to see who it was. "Here, let me have her wrist."

He took her wrist from me and suddenly I wasn't part of it anymore. The pair managed to stop the blood loss, as I just stood there with my now blood soaked towel.

I noticed a bloody piece of glass on the floor. I picked it up, wrapping it in my towel. I grabbed up my clothes and bag, which got blood all over them from my hands, and backed out the door. I saw her eyes staring blankly back at me as I left. Blue eyes.

**Author's Note: I forgot to put this at first. But right now, one of our writers, Sierra Echo Bravo, is out of touch. Everyone should encourage her to get her chapter three up, view relentless reviewing and PM, so that when she gets back, she has an inbox full of stuff motivating her.**

**As an unrelated review question, what is the thing that scares you the most?  
**


	4. Hallway Meetings

I stood there, facing the door with blood soaked towel and clothes in hand, stunned momentarily. Who ever those two were, they seemed competent enough. In hindsight, it would make sense for a government run storm shelter to have some sort of emergency medical technician on the premises. It would just be stupid to let someone die in here because there was no one trained around.

"I hope she's going to be ok," I heard a quiet voice say from behind me. It was the girl who had screamed for help earlier. I turned around, scanning the rest of the hall way like I should have when I first came through the door.

"Yeah," I agreed gruffly.

"That was quick thinking. With the towel, I mean. I'm glad you heard me."

"I'm glad anyone did." It would have been awful to die here, in a church full of people, because no one came to help. Though I wonder if the girl in there considered it help at all. We stood there silently for a moment.

"Is she a friend of yours?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"No," said the brown haired girl. "I don't even know her name." She seemed too shaken up by the whole thing to be lying. And if she was telling the truth, she wouldn't have any idea who Royce was. "Who are you? Do you know her?"

"Don't you think I would know you didn't know her if I knew her?" I asked back.

"Ummm," she muttered what I said back to herself, "I suppose you're right. That wouldn't make a lot of sense." The rain lashed against the exit near us particularly hard. "I guess you're staying here too?"

I nodded. "I'm Bella," she said. She looked like she was about to hold out her hand for a handshake, then noticed that hers were covered in blood. Mine were too, but I don't think she made it that far.

"I'm Matt," I said. "And I think no one will mind if you use the men's room to clean up."

"Thanks," she said. We both headed into the bathroom, her looking around a little awkwardly. I dropped my clothes on the floor while I scrubbed at my hands. I managed to get off most of the blood. Some of it stuck under my nails and stained my cuticles red, but I thought I was ok for the moment. I didn't look like I had just killed someone. Unless you looked really close.

Bella seemed to be doing a more thorough job on her hands. She actually had pulled out several paper towels already and was trying to use them while picking out the blood that had congealed under her fingernails. While she did that, I went over to the garbage can. It had a heavy black plastic bag in it. I pulled that bag out, finding, as I had hoped, a roll of replacement bags under it. I grabbed that out of the can and tore off one to put my clothes in.

"Can I use that?" Bella asked from behind me. I turned around to find her holding two handfuls of wet, and in some cases bloody paper towels.

"Sorry," I muttered, holding open the bag that had been in the garbage can in the first place. She tossed them in, and I put the bag back as it had been. I stuffed my clothes into the extra bag I'd torn off, and we headed back out into the hall. There seemed to be more people involved with the girl who had tried to kill herself. It looked like they'd rolled some sort of stretcher or gurney in there. I stood up on my toes to try to see something more, but was immediately blocked by a chubby bald man.

"You kids clear out this area, please," he said, in that tone of voice that makes it clear that the please is just so that you can try to pretend it's a request if you want to. I glare at him for a moment, before turning to follow Bella away from the bathroom.

Bella stopped and waited for me to catch up before continuing down the hallway.

"Where are you going now?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Did you eat yet?" The question took me straight back to that restaurant, back to Alice. Alice who should be far away and safe by now. Alice who I'd never see again.

"No," I said, as I realized that I had taken too long answering the question. "I didn't eat yet."

About this time, the large, curly haired guy I had brushed past earlier came around the corner. He looked past us quickly, plainly taking in what could be made of that scene.

"What happened down there?" he asked us.

"Some girl... had an accident," said Bella, apparently either as reluctant as me to talk about what the girl would no doubt consider a private matter, or just unwilling to call it a suicide attempt without some outside confirmation.

"What did she look like?" the man asked her. She started to answer when I cut him off.

"What's it to you?" I asked.

"I'm just trying to find someone. A blond haired woman, about this tall, with blue eyes," he said as he held his hand out to what seemed like about the right height for the girl in the bathroom back there.

"Maybe she didn't want to be found by you," I said as I looked at him closer. He was bigger than me. A little taller, and he out weighed me by a lot. I'm sure someone his size would be good in a fight, if only because of how strong he must be. He moved soft though. Didn't seem like he had a lot of awareness of his surroundings, and I sure wasn't going to be stupid enough to fight fair if it came down to that. I moved slightly, so that I was a little in front of Bella.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure she was ok. What's your problem?" he said. I glared at him. I heard a clattering from behind me, but I wasn't about to turn my back on this guy right now.

"Clear a path!" I heard, shouted by the man who'd actually managed to do some good in there, the blond man who had come in after me. I shift to the same side of the hall as Bella, opposite the big guy. A gurney wheels past with the blond haired girl unconscious on it, but still breathing and no longer bleeding as far as I can tell. A crowd that includes the apparent EMT goes with it.

"Holy shit!" he said. "That's her. What happened?" He turned started to get off the wall to follow, but I launched myself so that I'm standing between him and the people who'd just past by.

"I don't know who you are," I said, getting right in his face, "but if I hear that you've gone anywhere near her, or hurt anyone here, I'll kill you!" My switchblade was in my hand, taken from the watch pocket that it always occupies in my jeans. It was closed still, and held away from him so that he couldn't see it, but it was out.

The big guy looked torn between shoving me away and giving me some bullshit response. He started to tense up, getting ready to move, and the blade on my knife snapped out. Quiet, like it always was. You had to feel it or see it, it was so quiet.

"Matt!" I heard Bella shout from behind me. I knew she meant me, remembering the cover name even in the heat of the moment. She was moving, but I wasn't going to look away form this guy right now. "Are you crazy?" She moved in the corner of my vision, moving towards the front to put herself between the two of us. When she got between the two of us without either of us moving, she gave me a slight push, trying to get me moving away. I stepped back.

"Bella, get away from him," I ordered, my voice the same command that it always was in a fight. One of my best weapons.

"Matt, calm down. I don't know why you're doing this, but you have to stop," she pleaded, moving away from him a little now that I had given her some space. I couldn't understand why she would turn her back to him.

"Get away from him." Anyone who was capable of hurting that girl back there, putting those bruises on her face, hurting her bad enough that she would cut her own wrists, they deserved whatever I ended up giving them. They could hurt anyone. They could even hurt someone like Alice. Like you did, whispered a voice in the back of my head. I couldn't understand how she could turn her back on him that easily. Was she crazy? Did she want want to end up like that girl on a gurney, rolling down the hall.

The girl shook her head. "No," she said, though she didn't sound very confident. "I won't."

"Bella?" I heard from off down the hallway. I glanced to the side and saw my roommate running at me full tilt.

"Get away from her!" he shouted. He had good intentions, at least. Even if I wasn't just going to let him attack me. I stepped back out of his path as he barreled towards me, and threw a left into his eye. It was a stupid hit, punching into the face of someone how was running, and it left my hand stinging. It would probably bruise later. But as Edward skidded to the floor, I hoped it had gotten across it's message that he shouldn't attack people stupidly like that, in general, or attack me at all, in specific.

"Edward!" Bella gasped, leaping away from the guy on wall to tend to him. Two birds with one stone. Edward shook his head slightly. "Are you alright?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he said, flashing her a smirk even though he would probably have a black eye. She pressed her hand to his face, seeming to check if there was any break. There weren't.

"You are bat shit insane," the big guy informed me.

"That's right," I said, focusing most of my attention back on him. "So when I threaten to kill you, listen."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" shouted Bella as I starred at the creep across from me.

"Hey," she added, smacking my arm as I didn't answer her.

"Edward was going to do onto me if I didn't do unto him first, weren't you Eddy?" I asked, still not shifting my eyes towards her.

"I'll still kick your ass-"

"Don't worry, Eddy, I was just leaving," I said, scooping up my bag as I continued to keep my eyes locked on the giant across from me. He honestly looked confused, as I gave my knife a twirl around my fingers before closing and putting it back in my pocket.

"I don't know what you think I did, but I didn't do it," he stated one more time before I rounded the corner away form them.

"Then you got nothing to worry about, do you?" I said. I finally made it out of view. I heard Edward mutter something as I made my way down the hall. I ducked into my room, ditching my rather ruined bag of clothes and pulling out a different set. I glanced around, and found that my toiletries must still be in the bathroom. So much for situational awareness. Now I just needed to procure another towel and I could actually give that long lost friend the shower a visit. I figured that it probably was a good idea for me to clear out of this room for a while anyhow, as Edward might try to retaliate for his black eye somehow.

I walked out towards the entrance of the church. God, at least Alice was away from all this stupid shit. What the hell did I think I was going to accomplish? I had no marketable skills. I had studied tactics, while getting terrible grades in school. I could hot wire a car or pick a lock, given enough time, but knew that it was quicker and easier money to just shop lift or hold someone up. I was good as a leader, it turned out, provided you were leading a bunch of pissant kids who would barely have made it into the army, brains and age wise. I had no job history. No credit history. No degree, not even a GED. What the hell had I thought I was doing?

I made it out to the main room, managing to spot the woman in the purple shirt from earlier. I wove through the crowd, managing to get to her without walking into anyone despite my tired state. I waved to get her attention as I approached, and even that was a trial now that my adrenaline had worn off. God I needed a cigarette. And a nap. And a meal. And another cigarette.

She was more attentive than me though. "Can I help you with something?" she asked when we were close enough to talk without shouting.

"I need a towel. I ... lost mine," I finished stupidly, too tired to even come up with some sort of excuse.

"Of course," she said, leading me towards a bin that was full of folded towels. Judging by the lack of uniformity, they had all been donated. "Carlisle told me what happened. Take as many as you need. Though we hope that there is enough for everyone who doesn't have one of their own."

I took the nearest one without even looking at it. I nodded a thanks at her, but I don't think that the woman was paying enough attention that she noticed _this_ gesture. I barely moved. God was I tired. I headed back to the showers, managing to run into someone in the process this time. But I didn't stop to apologize to the short man, and he didn't get a chance to voice his opinion. I did glance at my towel though. Blue, of course.

I made it to the showers without incident after that. I was worried that Bella and Edward or that big guy might pop up on the way, but they seemed to have headed out to parts unknown.

There were six shower stalls. Three on the left and three on the right. I took the farthest one on the left. I opened the curtain to find _another_ reminder of Alice. The shower head was about level with my chest. It wasn't the first time I'd used pygmy sized showers before. It probably wouldn't be the last.

The reminder of Alice didn't escape me once I had stripped and was as under the water as I could be. I suppose it wasn't very polite to be thinking about a kind angelic girl like her that way, but I'm not a polite guy. If I can hold a gun to her, I can go ahead and imagine the feel of her against me while I'm in the shower. I can imagine those beautiful lips on mine, and maybe on other places. I was far from a blushing virgin. I wondered if Alice was. She seemed like she was. No one could have been good enough for her. I hoped she was, for some reason. Not like it mattered. Not like I would ever see her again.

I had to squat to manage to wash my hair, but I did manage. I only almost fell asleep standing up twice. After I dried off, I gathered up my things and went to drop them off in my room. It was probably around when dinner was being served, if they were doing that. I ditched my loaner towel and my dirty clothes onto a pile on my cot, and headed out to get some food. I would deal with them later.

I ended up getting to the dinner line after it had been hit hard by most people already, even though it wasn't that late. I settled on a gravy drench Salisbury steak, with mashed potatoes and lots of bread. I must be really going crazy. Trying to save people? Especially when they didn't want to be saved? Alice. Alice was what had driven me to this. I never should have pushed her away like that. I should have pushed her away, but not like I did. She might be dead now, because of me, and I couldn't get the image of her out of my mind. I had no idea where she was or how she was or anything. I slammed my fork down on my plate angrily making gravy splatter on the table. I was too tired. Out of sorts and making bad decisions.

I traced the path of the gravy up along the table. It pointed to a door, which at that very moment was being opened by the same blond haired, blue eyed woman I had so recently seen on a stretcher.

"Should you be up?" I asked sharply from my seat at the table.

"What?" said the girl.

"I asked if you should be up after losing so much blood."

"Why? Are you a doctor?"

Hah. Me a doctor. No, I'm just about the exact opposite. "I'm the guy who ruined a perfectly good towel back there."

"_You _saved me?" she seemed surprised, and maybe a bit angry. I just nodded.

"I suppose you want some sort of prize or something," she spat at my silence.

"I'd say a towel, but I got one. Isn't like I don't already know why you tried to kill yourself," I said, focusing on my food at this point, not even bothering to look at her.

"What?" she demanded angrily. "You don't know anything about me. And I didn't try to kill myself. I tripped."

I looked up at her then, incredulously. "Tripped?"

"I'm clumsy," she replied through clenched teeth.

"You don't believe that," I said. "You expect to convince anybody else?"

"I tripped," she repeated, "just like yesterday when I managed to hit my cheek on a coffee table," she added, bringing her hand up to the bruise on her cheek. Her eyes weren't here anymore, and I knew exactly where they were.

"Is Royce around?" I asked.

"What?" she said again, her attention suddenly snapping to me.

"Is Royce here with you?" I asked, enunciating each word.

"Who's Royce?" she said, suddenly getting back into character. "What are you talking about?"

"Guess that explains why that jerk in the hall was so surprised," I muttered. He must really have just been some concerned citizen. Whatever. He sure didn't manage to do any good, and probably would have freaked her out worse.

"What did you say?" she asked again, slipping slightly out of the angry calm she tried so hard to put on due to her fear of Royce.

I looked at her for a moment. "Boyfriend," I announced.

"What the hell are you talking about? You know what, I don't give one flying..."

"Royce was your boyfriend." She paused in surprise at me cutting her off, and at what I had said. "He raped you, didn't he? Was it abusive before? You almost seem too fiery to let that sort of thing go on too long though, I bet this was the first time that..."

The slap, the sheer sound from her hand hitting my face cut me off. It wasn't the hardest I'd been hit, not by a long shot, but she could swing pretty good. I'd probably have a bruise of my own.

"How dare you?" she demanded, so angry she was breathing heavily. "You don't know anything about me. Nothing! I wasn't raped. I did not try to kill myself."

I glanced down at my plate, finding that I had managed to finish up the last of my food during this conversation. I'd been so hungry I had kept eating while my mind was completely else where. I looked back up to her.

"I'm an expert at lying. I do it a lot, but I'll go ahead and tell you a little bit of truth. I don't know if it'll get any easier for you. I've never gone through what you have, and I hope to god I never do." I stood up to leave, picking up my tray. "I'm in 220, if you want to talk or anything. I can't sleep most nights either, so you can drop by anytime if you want."

As I turned to leave, my eyes fell on small figure with black hair and beautiful, hypnotic blue eyes. She darted around a corner before my stunned mind even had time to start moving again. What was Alice doing here? She should have been far away from this whole storm!

By the time my mind was working again, I was already half way across the room. Which was fine, because I wanted to catch up with her. What was I expecting to do? Apologize? I should thank her for trying to help me, for being so kind. No, wait. I didn't want to encourage her. She wasn't in the hall way when I rounded the corner. Either she slipped into a room really quickly, or she is way faster than she looks. I stood in the hall for a minute, waiting to see if she would reappear, but she seemed to be smart enough to know not to come out of hiding yet if she was avoiding me. I smiled, for some reason glad that she was at least that capable.

But this was not what should have been happening. She was supposed to be safe, far away. Did she think I liked doing what I did? I didn't, not really. I just wanted her to be safe. Safe was far away from me, and scaring her seemed like the only way. Now I had hurt her for nothing. I started digging in my bag for a cigarette. I had only switched over the knife to these jeans, because it was such a habit. Nothing else had made the transition yet. I went over to the pile of dirty clothes on the bed and began searching through the pockets. Where the hell were my cigarettes?

I went back to my bag, slightly pissed that I couldn't find them. I was pretty sure they were in my bag though. I must have put them there, if they weren't in my pants.

They were there. Disaster averted. Except that not everything was there. I shifted through the bag quickly, moving aside everything. Not there. I took the bag, and dumped it onto the floor. Nothing left in the bag. I went through the pile, making sure that it wasn't there, and that nothing else was missing. Nothing else was, I concluded as I put the last of my clothes back in the bag.

The only thing missing was my gun. The last thing that really tied me to my old life. I was screwed if someone who was out to get me had that. Or even if I just got into the wrong situation and didn't have it. Who'd have thought that a bunch of refugees at a church had anyone quick enough on the uptake to start stealing from these rooms? Which inspired me to mount a quick search of Edward's bags, but my quick look through didn't reveal any cash. And the cash had still been in my bag anyhow. Which meant that it was not a thief. Someone specifically wanted that gun. No one here should have even known I had it... except Alice.

I don't know why she would want it. I left my room wondering what reason she would have for wanting it. She wouldn't have actually wanted to use it. I couldn't imagine Alice actually shooting another human being. She would never have to do anything like that. If I had my way, she would never even have to defend herself. Was she just trying to make sure I didn't do anything with it? Or keep me from getting into any trouble?

I made my way out to the area we had signed in at, intent on asking whoever was manning the check in desk about Alice, but there was no one there. Apparently, no more arrivals were expected. Sort of cold, them concluding that everyone still out there wouldn't make it. But it was a definite plus for me, because there was still a box of files sitting behind the abandoned desk.

I started paging through them. More luck, they seemed to be in alphabetical order. Mary Alice Brandon, she would be near the front. I flipped through quickly, finding hers, though pausing to laugh at one of them. Anyone named Butts deserved to be laughed at. You can change that sort of stuff. Maybe it was a fake. I hoped, for his sake, that it was. But Alice was the important thing. Mary Alice Brandon, address, phone number, lots of useful information, including her car, which was worth way more than my life and every dollar I had ever touched, I bet. But no room number. Shit.

Wait. I flipped through the cards. They all had a number written on the upper right corner, just as hers did. Alice's card bore a nineteen, in the same place that a lot of others bore numbers in the two hundreds. And in the same place that mine said two twenty.

I replaced the box as I found it. I was tempted to steal my card out of it, but if someone checked this stuff, maybe it would be better to be in the system. I headed off to find the beautiful little fool who had stolen my gun. I felt jauntier than I should have, going to see her. She probably wouldn't be happy to see me. And I wasn't happy to see her. I was upset. She should have been far away. She should have been safe, with me out of her life.

But maybe I could appreciate one more view of her, before she left, right? Just make sure that I remembered what she sounded like, since I seemed to remember who she looked rather easily. I grinned, imagining how well I remembered Alice's looks.

Nineteen, it turned out, was around the corner from my room. I knocked on the door as I arrived. I wasn't against walking in on Alice, but maybe she was rooming with some wrinkly old lady. No reason to see that if I didn't have too. No one answered though. I knocked again, and was once again met with silence.

I opened the door slowly, peeking in to see if anyone was there. It was as empty as it had seemed when I knocked. There was only one overnight bag, so I guess Alice didn't have a roommate. Or maybe she did, since the bed the bag was farthest from was messed up as if it had already been used. Maybe Alice didn't have a bag. That would suck. I went to search the bag anyway, left with nothing but hope that it was the right bag at this point. It seemed to be mostly clothes. Jeans, a few shirts. Bras and underwear that seemed entirely appropriate for Alice, somehow hinting at sensuality while still being technically innocent and functional. Though you have to wonder if a green bra with purple lace is really meant to stay out of view.

At the bottom, though, I finally found something out of place. A sock that wasn't paired up like all the others seemed to be. A bit more searching revealed another sock with some hard object inside of it. Either it was my hand gun, or Alice really planned for _everything _on whatever lonely overnight trip she had been expecting. I pulled it out, finding that it was my gun. I took out the clip, ejecting the last round, before depositing both the ammunition and the gun into my back pocket. Something still seemed off. An overnight bag like this, for Alice. Clothes were there certainly, but wouldn't she have had a hairbrush or something? Shampoo? She seemed like she must do something special with her hair. There was no toothbrush either, and there was no way those teeth were ever neglected. No towels. No toiletry bag at all. Alice must have headed off for a shower. I headed out the door, grabbing the sock on a whim as I went. This was too good a chance to pass up. If I was never going to see Alice again, my last glimpse could maybe be a bit more revealing than the previous one. I don't know why Alice had this effect on me. It wasn't as if I had never seen a woman naked. She was different though. She just seemed perfectly designed to entice me. Even if she shouldn't have been in my life at all. But I would get to see her again, and at least I knew that she would be driving in better conditions.

Bella was walking down the hall in toward the bathroom as I started to exit, and I ducked back into Alice's room before she could notice me. _There_ was a situation I didn't feel like getting involved in. Even if she would listen and be smart enough to stay away from me when I told her to leave. I waited till I heard her open the bathroom door before I exited, heading that way myself.

I stopped at the door though. I wasn't about to go in if Bella was in there. No good would come of that situation. Plus, I wanted this talk with Alice to be alone. Maybe I should just go back to her room.

The door to the bathroom opened, and Alice stepped through. She stopped, shocked, to find me waiting there in the hall. I loved the way her breath seemed to momentarily hitch when she saw me. Except if it was just fear. That the mere sight of me would scare her.

"Fancy meeting you here," I said, eyes narrowed as I glared at her. "I could have sworn you were supposed to be far away from this whole storm." Far away from me.

She seemed caught off guard, there in her striped pajamas, but recovered quickly. I felt a that weird sense of pride again that she was so quick. "I didn't think it as safe to be driving back. The roads are awful right now. Why?" she said cheerfully, smiling up at me with those eyes. I had to look away, before I was overwhelmed.

"That's good," I said. And it was. I had been worried that she would get into an accident on the way back. I turned back to look at her. "I just would've hated for you to have been following some loser."

"Good thing I don't know any losers worth following," she retorted. I almost wanted to laugh. If I wasn't a text book definition of loser, then I was something worse. And she damn well knew it, judging by what she had done.

"Yeah," I responded, fingering the sock that I had in my pocket. "Good thing. I wouldn't want you getting involved in anything illegal. Anything that might get you hurt."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled for such things, then," she informed me so earnestly there was no way it was anything but mockery. I almost smiled. I liked her sense of humor, even if it was at my expense right now. Her eyes sought out mine again. "Are you enjoying your stay in Chateau Storm Shelter?"

"It's got some interesting people," I said, slowly pulling out the sock that had contained my gun. I didn't look away from her as I did. "Lots of interesting things to find."

She looked slightly nervous, as I dangled the sock there in between us. "Socks? They're interesting, I guess, if, um, you're into-"

"Stop trying to help," I pleaded, cutting off her sped up, nervous speech. "You don't know how much trouble you could get into."

"I think it might be worth," she said, suddenly much steadier, as she took the sock from my hand. "You'd be surprised at how much I can handle."

"Some things aren't worth the risk." Why couldn't you see that you are more important Alice? I was a criminal. I hurt people. I hurt _you. _I looked away, not able to face her when I thought about myself. I looked back soon though, not able to keep my eyes off her. I compromised by looking at her neck, which was beautiful, and incredibly alluring. It looked like it would be very soft to the touch. Very delicate.

"Enough with the euphemism's," she said bluntly. "I'm not giving up on you, Jasper. I will follow you until you understand that."

"Alice," I said, managing to will myself back to looking at her face. "Don't get involved in my life. I would rather get myself arrested or killed than even take the chance of you getting hurt. And that is not just a statement. Consider that a threat, if you really care what happens to me."

I'd do whatever I could to protect her. And if the best way to protect her was to get rid of me, then so be it.

"Aw, that's the sweetest threat I've ever heard! Thanks," Alice said, smiling at me. I was stuck starring at her lips turning up in that smile. She was lucky I even heard her at this point. "But no deal. I'll see you around, okay? And don't run off, I don't want to have to mow you down."

She walked slowly past me, moving gracefully. I turned to watch her walk, because even that was amazing. She didn't seem short, when she walked. She seemed exactly right, like the rest of us were huge, uncoordinated freaks. The way she moved was completely perfect, like she knew every step moments before any of the rest of us did. She started to turn to look back at me, at exactly the perfect, most tantalizing moment.

And the hallway plunged into darkness.

**Author's Note:**

**I know, this took way too long to get out to you all. To make up for it, this is the largest update I've ever posted.**

**Happy Valentine's Day. Are you all doing anything fun and romantic? I'm actually marathon rewatching Veronica Mars, which the friend I borrowed it from assures me is a perfectly Valentine romantic thing to do.  
**


	5. Lying IS the most fun, when done right

It wasn't quite pitched black without the lights. But I couldn't really see Alice down the hall anymore. Too bad. I'd have to come up with some way to get myself away from her then, if she wouldn't do it. I was pretty sure that I had been bluffing with that last part. I wasn't going to do anything that would put myself in danger over some girl, even Alice.

I heard a familiar voice shout from the bathroom. It was really more of a shriek, actually. Then I heard a crash. Bella must have been in there when Alice had come out. I wonder what that crash was. It isn't like she managed to take down one of the actual fixtures. The shower curtain maybe? Or she stumbled into something. I chuckled as I wandered down the hall to my room. Seeing Alice, and hearing Bella's predicament had me in higher spirits than I had been in for a while.

I dragged my hand along the wall as I walked, using the plaster to help figure out when I should be turning. I always liked the sensation too. I rounded the right turn, coming up to about where my door should have been. I pulled out my lighter to read the door number. One flick to find out that it was room two twenty, and another to plunge myself back into darkness.

I made my way to the cot I had picked out, shoving off my bag back to the floor. Maybe I would manage to get some sleep. It isn't like I dislike sleep. I just kept getting woken up whenever I tried. Be it a rainstorm, the bus ride ending, or my own memories. Something managed to wake me up every time I tried to get any shut eye. This time, I vowed, I would actually sleep. Dreamless, exhausted beautiful sleep. Not quite as alluring as Alice, but better for both of us. Realizing that the power outage would end eventually, I hopped back up, feeling around the wall by the door until I found the light switch, and throwing it into the off position. For now, so it didn't poke me, I stuck my my gun under my pillow. Then I laid back down to actually manage to sleep. I would will myself unconscious, and fuck whatever dreams I might have. This time, I would manage to sleep.

I don't know how long I laid there before I finally drifted off, but I must have. Because I got woken up. Of course. I heard my roommate muttering, as the door crashed to a close. What the hell was he doing back? And why the hell hadn't he closed the door a little more freaking quietly?

"Edward?" I called out toward the darkness.

"What?" he responded tersely. Apparently he wasn't over that black eye yet. Must not have been asleep long.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"What?" he said again. This one was more of a confused, taken aback thing. Did he think I meant here, like at this point in his life or something.

"Why aren't you off with the dumb brown haired chick trying to do everything except not end up with dumb green eyed, brown haired little kids?" I replied. Wasn't that the sort of thing rich pricks like him did? Especially after they "save" the girl from terrible scary people like me?

"_Bella,_" he corrected me acidly, "isn't anyone you should be talking about. Especially since she saved your skin."

"Yeah," I said, standing up in the darkness. I guess the power outage hadn't ended. "My hand might have really started to hurt if I hit you too many more times like that first one."

Ok. This was hardly me at my most diplomatic. But for fuck's sake, I just wanted some sleep? Was that really so hard to manage? I heard him stomping over towards me. "Don't talk about Bella to me ever again," he said. He needed to get out of my personal space, or I was going to shove a breath mint down his throat. After breaking his nose.

"Don't worry. Clumsy damsels in distress really aren't my type. And she seemed plenty distressed when she was falling all over the bathroom when this blackout quit."

I once heard that shoplifting and punching someone in the dark are victimless crimes. I won't make any judgment about shoplifting, but judging by the punch in the stomach, the power outage made no difference. It did give away where Edward was to me. I grabbed his arm before he could pull it back, and yanked him into my cot.

"Fuck," I heard Edward mutter under his breath as his ankles slammed into the metal frame of my cot. Unfortunately for him, that let me get in a good swing at his head. Not being able to see, it didn't connect like I wanted. My fist glanced of the side of his head, rather than connecting with his jaw as I hoped. I jumped back before he could retaliate. Fortunately, I didn't end up connecting with any furniture.

I heard Edward get up and come towards me. I put my hands up to guard my head. I was rocked to the right slightly by him swinging against my arm. I grabbed his arm again, and swung Edward into the wall. I twisted his arm behind him. I felt him trying to turn farther towards me, and twisted the arm harder, getting a hiss out of him.

"Edward," I finally demanded wearily. "Do you want me to kill you? Because I can if you really want."

"Fuck you!" he shouted back at me.

I smacked him in the back of the head, and heard the accompanying thunk as his forehead hit the wall. "In the future, I'll make sure and let potential rapists alone with your girl."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"Come on," I said. "The big guy? Who was looking for the girl who had just been beaten up and tried to kill herself? Did you figure he was the good guy or that Bella is so much a bigger threat than you that I was pulling a knife on her?"

The pressure against the hand I had twisting his arm lightened, as he actually seemed to be thinking. I'm sure it was a rare occurrence for him.

"I suppose maybe I did misjudge the situation," he admitted grudgingly. "You didn't need to punch me for it."

"Yeah, well, now that you got in your sucker punch, we're even."

"Sorry," he said, as I released him. "But you can see how I would misinterpret it."

I heard him sigh, as I went back to my bed, grabbing all the fun contraband that I had left there. "Are we cool then?"

I nearly laughed at him. Are we cool? What the hell? I walked out the door. He must have strained something thinking earlier. I was going to find somewhere quieter and more secluded to sleep. This place was huge, and I hadn't even checked for any other exit routes on the other floors.

I tried to think of where a set of stairs might be. I thought I might have seen a likely door up near where I had come in. It was brighter in the hall, after having been in the pitched blackness of my room. Plus, some quick thinker had placed lamps at the corners in the hallway. Probably for people like Edward and Bella, so they didn't end up where ever they had shipped that blond girl. I wondered if I would run into Alice any more. She might be the kind who just went wandering around, trying to get into adventures, I thought as I grinned a little. My mind drifted back to our meeting in the hallway. I had noticed that apparently she didn't sleep in a bra, and now I was busy imagining her in bed without other things. I thought I heard something at the end of the hallway, as my daydream continued.

"No!" I heard shouted from up near the door. Or maybe I was just listening for that voice a little too closely. My feet were heading to help her, to protect Alice from whatever it was. My mind, as usual, was a step slower.

"You can't stop me," insisted a large bald man to the tiny form that was trying to block the door.

"I can scream for someone who will," said Alice coldly, pressing herself against the large wooden door, as if her meager weight could have held it against anyone who was determined to get it open. I was momentarily distracted by the thought that her pose would have been better if I was there pressed against her, and there was no one else around. Then the man sprang forward, quicker than one would think someone plainly in their middle age could move, and grabbed Alice.

"Now I'm not taking you with me, so you're going to have to stay in-" he cut off as I crashed into him, pulling Alice out of his grip and tossing her behind me. The man was on the ground, and I didn't see any reason to let him get up and potentially lay another one of his filthy hands of her, so I pulled my leg back to give him a good kick in the head.

"Jasper wait!" that voice commanded from behind me. And once again my feet followed her orders above my own, freezing me there.

"What?" I hissed as the man scrambled back against the door. He pressed against it much like Alice had just been doing moments before.

"He wasn't going to hurt me. He was just trying to get out of the shelter to go see his son," said Alice as if she was apologizing. And maybe she was.

"And you were trying to stop him?" I asked, incredulously.

"He'll die if he goes out in this weather," she said quietly, her head bowed in front of me.

"How do you know that? And who are you to say that he can't risk his life for someone he loves?" You risk your life for people who you don't even know. And you would stop a man from going to his family?

"I know it, Jasper," she insisted, looking up at me. Her eyes are worse than her voice for freezing me. "I just know. I couldn't just let him die, could I?"

I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut. "No, you couldn't." Then I grabbed her. I felt her squealing angrily against the hand that I had over her mouth. Her heels slammed into my legs, but she had a terrible angle, and it would barely leave a mark if it left any at all. "Go to your son if he needs you," I said to the man, who was still sitting against the door looking dazed. He just stared at me. I felt Alice hands give up on trying to pry mine off of her, and tightened up my stomach just before an elbow was thrown into it.

"Go!" I ordered, and this time he stood up, shaking his head like he was clearing it. I felt Alice's finger nails digging into the back of my hand, while her teeth cut into my palm as the man went out through the door. She kept struggling, her breath coming in gasps, after he left. I moved one of my arms so that it was holding hers against her, keeping her from continuing to draw blood from that side of her hand. I could hold both her wrists in one hand so easily. I felt my arm brush against her breasts, and found myself once again not entirely as focused on the proper aspects of the situation as I should be. I could just keep her like this, pressed against me, holding her away from any danger that she might go running off to find. I could stay like this forever.

I felt a stinging on the back of my hands as Alice stopped struggling. I loosened my grip as I realized that it was her tears. She shoved away from me gasping, her eyes blank, but still crying. After a moment, she seemed to see me again.

"You're lucky," she hissed at me, shoving me. I laughed at her.

"I'm lucky?" I demanded, grabbing her arm. "I'm lucky? What? That my life is so good?"

I tightened my grip on her arm and a pained look came over her face. "That you don't hurt me?" I continued.

I pulled her to me, and put a hand on her waist, where her skin was left bare. She had deliciously cool skin, and it was very soft to the touch. I pinned her between me and the wall, feeling her breasts push into me. "What makes you think I wasn't just trying to get you for myself?"

"You.. confuse me," she said breathily. I liked what the blood rushing to her cheeks did to her color.

"I don't think my intentions are that confusing," I whispered in her ear, moving the hand that was on her waist up. Her skin seemed to heat up under my touch.

"No," she said. I wondered if she was addressing my words or what I was doing, as she put her hand on mine. I didn't slow it down. "Your intentions aren't. But your actions are. Remember what happened after we met in the restaurant? That's totally different to this."

There was only inches between us, as her shirt bunched up above our hands. "Every other time we've met, I've warned you to stay away from me. You didn't think of why?"

Her eyes had a somewhat glassy look to them. "I tend to-" she gasped slightly, "-ignore things I probably shouldn't. And I wouldn't stay away from you anyway."

"Idiot," I murmured. Then I moved my free hand up to her hair and pulled her face toward mine. She kissed me back as our lips met, and I felt her arms go around my neck. It felt like she was trying to pull me down closer to her. I ran my tongue lightly over her closed lips, and pulled her closer to me as my hand came to rest on her left breast. It felt like her skin was on fire now, and I would have worried she had a fever if not for what we were doing.

We broke apart, her gasping slightly, me smirking. "New at this?"

"Clearly, I don't meet your professional standards," she said angrily. She was trying to glare at me, but the range was a little short for that sort of thing. She slipped out from the space that had opened between us, and I let her go. "Too bad I won't have a chance to practice."

"Too bad," I said, turning and starting to walk back to the hallway. "You're not really my type anyway."

I looked back over my shoulder to see how she was taking this line of lies. She looked livid. Her hands were tightly clenched at her sides, like she wanted to hit me. Like it would have done anything, if I had let her and I was even in her arms reach.

"Yeah, self-respecting isn't really your type, _Matt," she finally spat._

_"Naive and helpless isn't really my type," I called back as I made it to the corner. "Self respect is optional. Though it usually makes for a better lay."_

_I rounded the corner, and made it back to my room before she had any response. I managed to find my cot with little difficulty at this point, even if it was dark. I was so exhausted and wrapped up in what I had just said to Alice that I didn't even check if Edward was in his bed. Because it had been nothing but lies. Alice was exactly my type, even if I had never had or met anyone like her. I wanted her, and there was absolutely no way I could deny that. One kiss, entirely closed mouth on her part, with me just running one hand over her body, and she was already all I could think about. And I didn't just want to have sex with her. I've always subscribed to the "if the cuddling is the best part, you're doing it wrong" school of thought, but imagining a happy and content Alice falling asleep in my arms, warm and safe, seemed like it might be the best part. The best part of anything really. Not just of sex._

_I tried to fall asleep thinking of that. Well, that and everything that could have led up to it. I finally drifted off, thinking of what might have been if I hadn't been just manipulating her out there, and had actually just kissed her and told her that it was fine, that I wanted her in my life._

***

A knock sounded on my door. You had to be shitting me. I wasn't going to get up.

"Why is someone knocking on the door?" groaned Edward. "At this time in the morning?"

I didn't answer. Someone else was getting up this time.

"I know you're awake, and it isn't for me."

"The only people I know here are you and Bella," I finally shot back, perfectly willing to lie and leave off Alice. "So even if it is someone I know, you want to be answering it anyway."

Edward finally went to get the door, angrily muttering under his breath.

"Can I help you?" he asked whoever was at the door. Fuck, it didn't sound like he knew the person.

"Um... yeah... could you send your roommate out?" Where did I know that voice? My sleep deprived mind momentarily flashed to Alice, even though I knew it wasn't her voice.

"Alright," I could hear the smirk in his voice. "Hey, Matt, you have a visitor."

You have got to be shitting me. Really? I couldn't just go to sleep? I rolled out of bed, and went to the door, finding a bruised but still beautiful blond who was popping up with quite a bit of frequency in my life. Though I suppose we were trapped in the same building.

"Oh. It's you," I offered with all the joy of a child opening their christmas present to find the exact same sweater they had hated last year, only one size bigger.

"Don't sound so pleased," she hissed back through clinched teeth. She held out a towel to me. I looked at her, then at the towel, then at her again. Then I responded, out loud this time, with what seemed to be my own personal refrain this morning.

"You have got to be shitting me."

"Fuck you," she retorted. "I don't like being in debt and I ... just take the stupid towel."

"No. I already got one, from the church. Where you probably got that one," I pointed out.

"You will take it even if I have to shove it up your-"

"That's it!" shouted Edward. "I can't take this room anymore. I'm out of here."

I heard him gathering up some stuff, before he finally brushed past me and the blond. We just sort of stood there and watched him go. Good fucking riddance.

"Now we have got to be even. I save your life, you get rid of that guy," I told her.

"Well, I'm _so _glad I could be of assistance," she hissed back.

I turned back to my room, trying to think of what to push against the door to make an impromptu lock. "Good night. Or good morning, depending on the time."

"Unless you had some other pressing business," I said, glancing over my shoulder at the blond as I walked back in. She stood silhouetted in the doorway. After a moment, she shook herself, and started to leave.

"Wait," I called out. She froze, her foot fortunately still in the way of the door so that it couldn't shut behind her. "That was really all you came by for? To give me a towel?"

"Should there have been something else? Was I supposed to profess my undying love and gratitude to you?" she asked snidely.

"I think you managed to come up with the one thing that would have made you more full of shit," I replied. "Fine. It don't matter to me. 'Specially not at fucking whatever the hell it is o'clock."

"It's only eight," she pointed out.

"Really?" I said, pausing. Huh. So I actually had managed to sleep a little? I guess exhaustion can lead to a nice dreamless sleep. Or maybe erotic daydreams about Alice always make for a good night's sleep.

"You're an idiot," she muttered. "And I would never tell trailor trash like you anything."

I took a quick step toward her, and she flinched. "Trailor trash huh? Says the girl in borrowed clothes running from her abusive boyfriend."

It was probably a good thing that I was still standing outside her reach, or she might have tried to slap me again. "I'm not running from anything."

I scrutinized her for a moment. "Not running is certainly a plan I can get behind. What are you doing when he finds you?" She hadn't meant it like that, but I hate violence towards women. And I was in a bad mood.

"I just want to get home," she said wearily. It suddenly seemed like the whole thing overwelmed her for a moment. She blinked away tears, and continued talking as if suddenly she was a different person. "I want to kill the bastard."

I smiled. It was almost like a homecoming, somehow. I had always been good at violence, and I loved it, if I actually had a cause I liked. What better person to hurt and kill than a rapist? "That can be arranged."

**Author's Note: It's been how long since I posted something? Really? You're kidding. It couldn't have been that long. Crap. Ummm... hey, what's that over there? *Runs out of the room***

**Well, since Shaps asked about the best day of your life, finish the thought: the worst day of my life was when....**


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